Dressage, A Dance for Two

"A great dance partner leads his partner, but he also allows the female half to stand on her own. Only when we allow our horse the room to move without constant use of aids, can we see what is there that needs attention. If a man holds the lady up, he will not know where she needs help and as with every pair her strengths are his strengths, her weaknesses his weaknesses."

"Often we see riders ask for something and then ask for it again in a completely different way and then get frustrated at the horse for not understanding. We first must make sure we are consistent in our aids and that we not only control our preparation, but are aware of what our preparation is intending to achieve. Then we must reward, or discipline, with one thought in mind; if we don’t know what we wanted, how does our horse know?"